Latest News

SDA gives away a 16GB Apple iPad

every month until November!

SDA Secretary Peter Malinauskas wants members to keep up to date with the latest technology.

“That’s why I’m giving away five Apple iPads between July 1 and November 30,” Peter said.

“I’m encouraging all SDA members to enter this latest competition online and, at the end of each month, I’ll announce the latest winner in the news section of sda.com.au.”
The Apple iPad is a great way to experience the web, email, photos and video… all on a big, multi-touch screen. It’s also an electronic reader.
So what are you waiting for? Click here to enter…

WINNERS UPDATE
SDA Win a Laptop Competition now closed.

• Jamila Ahmada from KFC Torrensville won the second laptop. Thanks to the thousands of SDA members who entered this competition to tell us why they thought sda.com.au was a great way to find out their wage rates and workplace rights.
• Tom Barlow from KFC Broken Hill won the Broken Hill Nintendo DSi competition.

SDA/AFS overseas scholarship

opportunity for keen soccer players

Hurry! Entries close on Friday, August 6th 2010.

The SDA is offering an exciting overseas opportunity for a lucky SDA member aged between 14 and 18 and with a keen interest in soccer.

SDA Secretary Peter Malinauskas says the SDA is offering the SDA/AFS Go Discover short overseas scholarship to Brazil for the first time.

This soccer and cultural scholarship is of four weeks’ duration in October 2010.
“One lucky member can learn to play ‘the beautiful game’ Brazilian style and the training offered covers techniques and strategies as well as physical and technical skills,” said Peter.

The first seven days of the scholarship are dedicated to the AFS home-stay experience combined with cultural activities in Sao Paolo, followed by three weeks’ accommodation in a 5-star hotel which is part of the Soccer Training Complex. Portuguese language lessons are provided as required.
 
To enter, you must be an SDA member who is:

• Between 14 and 18 years old
• Keenly interested in soccer
• An amateur level player.
  

Pay rise due?

You’ll hear from the SDA!

Whenever a pay rise is due, you’ll hear about it from the SDA: via post and all new pay rates are there for you to check out on sda.com.au. Now, SDA members also receive an SMS with the good news that they have a pay rise.

“We started texting members because it’s an easy medium to use and most people have a mobile phone these days,” said SDA Secretary Peter Malinauskas.

“It’s a great way to deliver pay rise updates instantly and it’s important to inform our members their pay rises come through.”

SDA members can always go to sda.com.au to check their new pay rate table, which will also be included in the pay rise letter. Click here to update your details so we can stay in touch!

SDA welcomes first national

paid parental leave scheme

The SDA has welcomed the historic passage of the Federal Government’s new 18-week paid parental leave scheme.

SDA Assistant Secretary Sonia Romeo says the scheme will help both Australian families and the economy as a result of the high participation of women during their most productive years.

“This scheme builds on all the hard work and excellent progress made by the SDA on this entitlement in recent times,” Sonia said.

The paid parental leave scheme begins on January 1, 2011 and will give new mothers 18 weeks’ paid leave at the minimum wage.

It will replace the current baby bonus for mothers who are eligible and will be funded from Government Tax Revenue rather than business. Full-time workers are eligible for the scheme but casual, part-time and seasonal workers may also be eligible to apply. For further information, contact Centrelink to enquire about the best approach to your entitlements if you are expecting a baby after January 1, 2011.

“Hit the books, not the floor”

Q. I work in fast food and I’m rostered on to finish work on Sunday at
9pm but my first exam is on Monday at 9am. Is there anything I can do?

A. The answer is not necessarily an all-nighter swatting over your books!

Many fast food and retail workplace Agreements negotiated by the SDA have provisions to take study time into account. This is important to the SDA because we have so many members who are studying and working part time. We know that juggling these two demands can be tough.

Many SDA-negotiated Agreements have provisions in them to say an employer should take your study requirements into account when rostering employees while other Agreements have specific study leave provisions to allow for unpaid study leave without jeopardizing your job.

You can:
• Speak to your employer about not working late on weeknights when you have school or university/TAFE the next day.
• Give your employer as much notice as you can of an upcoming exam so they know you will need time off. It’s important to know if you’re eligible for study leave and how to go about it. Your workplace Agreement may state that you have to give a required amount of notice before you take leave.

But remember, you’re never alone when you’re an SDA member. If balancing study and work seems daunting, you can contact the SDA office on 8139 1000 and we’ll guide you through your entitlements.